The course probes the formation of social policy in the United States from its very first cultural and religious roots. Starting with the transition from hunter-gatherer groups to agrarian villages, the course will examine the passage of the Poor Laws that shaped social policy through the colonial period until the beginnings of the 20th century, when the challenge of making the industrial city livable gave rise to the development of the welfare state. As part of this transformation, the provider of social welfare shifted from the local community to the state to the federal government. The course ends with an exploration of the debate regarding the role of government in the late 20th century: should it foster entitlements or self-sufficiency? This course addresses issues of power, oppression, and white supremacy.
The course is part of a sequence in social policy that has an HONORS TRACK. This track will prepare the learner for masters-level work in policy, which involves reading the literature, writing concise summaries and probing critiques. Over the sequence the learner will develop a policy analysis that will create a foundation for professional policy analyst assignments.

Skills You'll Learn

- Distinguish the values inherent in each social policy initiative, - Critique components of a social policy based on their effectiveness at meeting the goals stated in the initiative, - Develop social welfare policy analysis and reform proposals, - Differentiate alternative approaches to social policy problems, - Formulate practice strategies to overcome the historic biases in social welfare programs

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From the lesson

The beginnings of the welfare state

This module explores the shift to a federal role in social policy and the development of welfare state institutions, including public works and employment, pensions, public housing and supports for families

Taught By

John Robertson

Policy Lecturer

Transcript

So, everything changed after the First World War. The men came home. The country was in the middle of a vast expansion. It actually went through a short depression at the end of the war as it reorganized itself and re-employed people. But then in the 1920s, we had a real boom, a boom of factories, a boom in electrifying the country, a boom in building suburbs, a boom in buildings suburban transportation systems, and the beginnings of the electronic age with telephones, and so forth. So, this was a time of really quite big change. In social welfare, we'd had the Russian revolution, and there was a great deal of concern that the C Communist revolution would come to the United States. In 1919, every American City had a daily Communist newspaper, and the labor movement and workers movements and poor peoples movements were very strong. So, there was real fear on the part of those who managed and had control of the economy that the revolution might come here. So, they put on the brakes and slowed down participation and slowed down building systems of support. Part of the reason they were able to do that was because the nation was doing so well. So, technology continued, especially in agriculture. We saw the development of the mechanical harvesters, the development of the cedars to plant crops, the beginnings of Agro chemicals to kill weeds and fertilize crops, and all of this led to continued migration from rural parts to the city parts. So, we had from rural America people moving from the villages and farms into the cities to work in the factories and the expanding technological machine that is America. The agricultural revolution also continued through the South. So, cotton was mechanized, corn was mechanized, other southern products were mechanized. So, there was a need for many fewer agricultural workers. In the meantime, the factories were booming, and so agricultural workers from the South started to move north to the Northern cities, and the Midwestern cities, and the Western cities. This is the first time that there is a significant African diaspora, African American movement to the Northern and Midwestern and western cities. So, we begin to see the growth of black neighborhoods, and we continue to see fairly segregationist policies in the Northern cities. Also as part of this, Puerto Rico which is held as a colony, sees a lot of people moving north and the beginnings of the urban Puerto Rican population. So, the 1920s was a time of social change, but not much time of extension of social support. So, we'll come back and talk about what happens at the end of the 1920s, but before that, in the next lecture, we're going to talk about the major issue of prohibition and at the time.

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